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A POST GAY IRELAND? EXPLORING THE LEGACY OF THE ‘YES EQUALITY’ CAMPAIGN FOR LGBT+ SOCIAL MOVEMENT LEADERS AND CONSTITUENT MEMBERS. A THESIS SUBMITTED BY NIGEL CONNOR B.A. (P.S.P), M.A FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF LITERATURE SOCIOLOGY DEPARTMENT FACULTY OF SOCIAL SCIENCE MAYNOOTH UNIVERSITY, IRELAND DATE OF SUBMISSION OCTOBER 2017 HEAD OF DEPARTMENT: PROF. MARY P. CORCORAN RESEARCH SUPERVISOR: DR. PAULINE CULLEN CONTENTS Abstract 4 Acknowledgments 5 1. Introduction 6 1.1 Research Aims 7 1.2 Exploring social movement success through a Plurality of Voices 8 1.3 Acceptance and LGBT+ People In Ireland 9 1.4 Community, Movement and Identity 10 1.5 Rurality 12 1.6 Key Findings 13 1.7 Contribution 14 2. Methodology 16 2.1 PURPOSE AND VALUES 16 2.2 GOALS AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS 16 2.3 PARADIGM AND CRITICAL APPROACHES 17 2.5 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS 20 2.6 SAMPLING: IDENTIFYING KEY ACTORS AND PARTICIPANT GROUPS 21 2.7 METHODOLOGY OF DATA COLLECTION 22 2.7.1 FOCUS GROUPS 22 2.8 PROFILES OF FOCUS GROUP PARTICIPANTS 23 2.8.1 EQUALITY MAYO 24 2.8.2 LONGFORD LGBT 25 2.8.3 DUBLIN FOCUS GROUP 26 2.9 ELITE INTERVIEWS 31 2.9.1 IRISH LGBT+ MOVEMENT ORGANISATIONS 33 2.10 Participant observation 36 2.11 CODING 38 2.12 LIMITATIONS 38 2.12.1 ETHICALLY CONSIDERATIONS TOWARDS PARTICIPANTS 39 3. The Development of the Yes Equality Campaign. 40 3.1 The KAL Case 40 3.2 Agitation for Marriage Rights Begins 41 3.3 The Formation of Marriage Equality and LGBT Noise 42 3.4 Tension caused by Civil Partnership and Civil Marriage 43 3.5 The Introduction of Civil Partnership 45 3.6 The Groundwork for Civil Marriage is Laid 46 1 3.7 The Irish Counter Movement to LGBT+ rights 48 3.8 Yes Equality: Beginnings 49 3.9 Mothers and Fathers Matter 50 3.10 Pantigate 50 3.11 Yes Equality: Messaging and Groundwork 51 3.12 Yes Equality: The Referendum Campaign 53 3.13 Contemporary Issues for Irish LGBT+ people 54 4. Literature Review 57 4.1The International LGBT+ Movement Landscape 58 4.1.1 Civil Society in Ireland 59 4.1.2 Social Partnership Agreements and their Impact on Civil Society 60 4.1.3 Irish LGBT+ Groups Working within Irish Civil Society 61 4.2 The Broader LGBT+ Movement and Representation of Minority Voices 62 4.2.1 Inclusion and Exclusion 62 4.2.2 Generational Divides 67 4.3 Location and LGBT+ Life: Urban LGBT+ Life 70 4.3.1 Location and LGBT+ Life: Living an authentic LGBT+ life away from Urban Spaces 72 4.4 Social Movement Theory Concepts Applicable to the Irish LGBT+ Movement 75 5. Participation in the 2015 ‘Yes Equality’ (YE) campaign 79 5.1 A Unified Movement, if Only Momentarily 80 5.2 Case Study of Equality Mayo and the YE campaign 83 5.2.1 Equality Mayo and the Marriage Referendum 85 5.3 Politicisation 86 5.4 YE Campaign Framing 89 5.5 The Impact of the ‘No Campaign’ 91 5.6 We won – we are not Roscommon 94 6. The Irish LGBT+ Movement in the Post ‘Yes Equality’ Moment 96 6.1 Irish LGBT+ Networks 96 6.2 Rural grassroots activism in Irish LGBT+ movement 100 6.3 Leadership, Negativity and Burnout 102 6.4 National Organizations GLEN, TENI and NXF 105 7. The Lived Experience of the Irish LGBT+ Community 111 7.1 Community or movement, neither or both? 111 7.2 Connections to a LGBT+ Identity 114 7.3 Marginalisation of LGBT+ individuals from minority groups. 118 7.4 Generational shifts 121 8. The Impact of Location on LGBT+ Individuals 125 2 8.1 Rural Life for LGBT+ people 125 8.2 RURAL LGBT+ VISIBILITY 129 8.3 URBAN LGBT+ ACTIVISM 130 8.4 BELONGING 134 9. Conclusion and Recommendations for Future LGBT+ organising in Ireland 138 9.1 Generational divides and generational interconnectedness of Irish LGBT+ people 139 9.2 Living an Authentic Life as an LGBT+ person in Ireland cities, towns and country 142 9.3 Leadership for the LGBT+ Community at a National Level 145 9.4 ‘Yes Equality’ and Social movement success 146 9.5 Is Ireland ‘Post gay’? 148 Bibliography 151 Appendix 1. The Development of early Irish LGBT+ Activism and community building 171 A1.1 Traditional Irish Values Pre 1961 171 A1.2 The Opening of Discourses around Traditional Values 172 A1.3 The Early Irish LGBT+ Movement 172 A1.4 Legal Challenges to Decriminalize Homosexuality 174 A1.5 Development of the movement and a community - 1980s 175 A1.6 The Impact of the HIV/Aids Crisis on Irish LGBT+ Activism 175 A1.7 The Violent Birth of Dublin Pride 176 A1.8 The Development of a Professional LGBT+ Lobby 177 A1.9 The Development of a Coherent Irish Trans Movement 178 Appendix 2 - Abbreviations 180 Appendix 3 – Interview Schedule for Elite Interviewees 182 Appendix 4 – Information for Focus Group Participants 183 3 ABSTRACT The success of the 2015 same-sex marriage campaign made Ireland the first country to extend marriage to same sex couples by popular vote. The discourse around the ‘Yes Equality’ (YE) campaign has been predominately positive, indicating an emerging Ireland of progressive social attitudes (Elkink et al 2016; McGarry 2016). This project explores the legacy of the YE campaign for the everyday lives of LGBT+ people, with a focus on those outside large urban centres, through an examination of activists’ experiences of the YE campaign, their patterns of collective action and their assessments of what it is to be LGBT+ in contemporary Irish society. To understand the depth and scope of social change as experienced by LGBT+ constituents, this research draws on assessments that posit the advent of a ‘post gay era’, understood as period of policy engineered decrease in homophobia and transphobia that functions to weaken ties to established LGBT+ spaces and institutions (Ghaziani 2014, Seidman 2002). Concepts from social movement analysis and examinations of LGBT+ organisations are also used to understand dynamics of inclusion, exclusion, collective identity and community in a sample of urban and rural LGBT+ groups. To gather data to assess how ‘post-gay’ Ireland has become, focus groups where held in both rural and urban environments with grassroots activists. In tandem, elite interviews were conducted with leaders of LGBT+ movement and community groups and participant observation was conducted of a new LGBT+ group formed in a town in the Midlands. Drawing on this data this thesis explores local and national LGBT+ debates on the YE campaign and in its aftermath experiences of collective action and community building in urban and rural contexts. Findings suggest, that the YE campaign worked as a catalyst that continues to sustain elements of rural based mobilization, however, age, gender and sexual identity shape the nature and capacity of collective organisation on the local level. Overall, a campaign that privileged a narrow conceptualization of LGBT+ life had mixed outcomes for this heterogeneous community and in the context of waning resources and a gap between national, local, urban and rural experiences, claims of a ‘post gay’ era seem premature. 4 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to acknowledge the support of the Department of Sociology and my supervisor Dr Cullen in both the creation of this document and in supporting me during my time at Maynooth. I would also like to thank Professor Fagan, Dr Chiyoko King-O'Riain, Dr Kettle, Trish Connerty and Aine Edmonds. Also to my postgrad colleagues who supported me in, encouraged me and offered invaluable advice as well as moments of sanity or insanity - depending on what was needed - Crisitn, Michelle, Ivan, JP, Catriona and Pat. My family have been a constant source of support and encouragement in everything I do. I am thankful every day for the opportunities you have given me and the support you have offered me to forge my own path. Thanks Mam, Dad, Emily and Luke for all you do. To all the poor unfortunates who helped get this document over the line, either voluntarily or not, Kevin, Chloe, Wai, Dan, Fionnuala and Dempsey thank you. This work was inspired by and created for the activists who continuously work to progress the rights and position of LGBT+ people everywhere. LGBT+ activism spaces can sometimes be tense and tumultuous in their approach and work. However, it is my view that this discord and the noise can ultimately bring stronger ties and richer outcomes, for both straight and queer alike. The work of LGBT+ activists in Ireland during the “Yes Equality” campaign shows how a single idea can motivate and enthuse, not just an activist base, but also an entire country. I want to thank all the activists who participated in the creation of this work and I want to thank them also for their service to the community and to the broader Irish civil space. Enfin, pour mon beau mec, il n’y a pas de mots pour exprimer comme je suis reconnaissant de t’avoir dans ma vie. Je sais que ce n’était pas facile pour toi, mais, pendant ces trois dernières années tu étais là, à chaque instant, pour moi. Ce document t’as mis à l'épreuve en même temps que moi et tu étais magnifique (ma cherie). Peut-être est-ce la vie du couple bilingue mais on ne dit pas toujours le choses importantes entre nous, je t’aime mon beau futur mari et merci. 5 1. INTRODUCTION When addressing LGBT+1 people’s concerns on her 23rd of June show 2017, radio presenter Mary Wilson noted “The country celebrated” (Wilson 2017: online) at the passing of the 2015 same sex marriage referendum.
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